Development for NRF51

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Version: [ , 2021.06 , 2021.03 , 2020.09 , 2020.06 , 2020.04 , 2020.02 , 2019.09 ]

This page aims at documenting how to start developing with the Crazyflie 2.X NRF51 chip

nRF51

Clone the crazyflie2-nrf-firmware project.

Then make the firmware:

make clean
make

To flash, first install the cflib and cfclient, and put the CF2.X in bootloader mode.

To flash using the radio bootloader:

make cload

To flash using a programming cable:

make flash

Debugging

Debugging the nRF51 chip requires a different configuration, but is otherwise identical to debugging the STM32. The alternative configuration can be found below.

NOTE: Make sure your executable (cf2_nrf.elf) is identical to the one running on your Crazyflie.

Debugging in VS Code

The Cortex Debug Configuration for nRF51 debugging is replaced with:

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        
            "name": "nRF51 Debug",
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "executable": "./cf2_nrf.elf",
            "request": "launch",
            "type": "cortex-debug",
            "device": "nrf51822",
            "servertype": "openocd",
            "interface": "swd",
            "configFiles": [
                "interface/stlink-v2.cfg",
                "target/nrf51.cfg"
            ],
            "runToMain": true,
            "preLaunchCommands": [
                "set mem inaccessible-by-default off",
                "enable breakpoint",
                "monitor reset"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Debugging in Eclipse

Replace cf2.elf with cf2_rbf.elf Replace target/stm32f4x.cfg with target/nrf51.cfg

Note on programming cables

For debugging and flashing without a radio an SWD cable is required. By default any cable supported by OpenODC can be used. The STLink-V2 is used by the Bitcraze team. Other cables like JLink can also be used but will require to manually enter the flashing command line and to modify your (VS Code/Eclipse) debugging configuration accordingly.

The SEGGER J-LINK can be used for debugging and flashing.

  • Download and install a recent version of OpenOCD, you will need at least version 0.9.

  • (Optional) Download and install (or extract) the J-Link Software. The following was tested with version 5.10u.W

    • If there is an error, you can execute the following once and type connect in the command prompt. This fixes issues in case openOCD left the J-Link in an invalid state.

    ./JLinkExe -device STM32F405RG -if swd -speed 4000